Here’s the schedule for NBC’s experimental station W2XBS in New York City for the week beginning Sunday, March 17th, 1940. Once again sports and films dominate the week’s broadcasts. One of the films, End of a Day, was apparently shown in French without English subtitles. Interesting.

Jerome K. Jerome’s (what a great name) “The Passing of the Third Floor Back” was made into a movie in 1918 and again in 1935, and then broadcast on television in 1940. Saturday saw another installment of “Art for Your Sake” with Dr. Bernard Myers as well as another edition of “Minute Mysteries,” which I know nothing about.

Saturday, March 23rd, 1940
3:30-4:30PM: “The Adventures of Chico,” a documentary film on Mexican peasant life.
7:30-8:00PM: “Art for Your Sake,” Dr. Bernard Myers.
8:30-9:30PM: Katherine Dunham and her Negro dance group in “Tropics,” a panorama of primitive West Indian dances; also “Minute Mysteries.”

3 Comments

“A Man Of Sentiment” is another obscure (1933) film from the long-forgotten “Poverty Row” Hollywood studio, Chesterfield [NBC must have had unlimited access to their library, as the studio had vanished years before]. Most of the short films presented during the day were also “commercial” and “industrial” shorts [“The Continent Is Bridged” obviously promotes A.T.&T./Bell System’s national phone service and network at that time]. “The Passing Of the Third Floor Back” was a LIVE performance of Jerome’s story, featuring veteran radio/movie/TV character actress Mildred Natwick.

I’m puzzled by the listing of a Stanley Cup playoff game telecast FROM Madison Square Garden on March 21 because according to NHL reference books the New York Rangers (who won the Cup that year, their last until 1994) played a road game in Boston that night losing 4-2, while the New York Americans, who also played at Madison Square Garden did not play until the next evening March 22, winning over Detroit.

I just checked and the weekly television listings in The New York Times, which are shown above, do indeed have the NHL play-off game taking place on Thursday, March 21st. However, the daily listings indicate that the game (Americans-Detroit) was broadcast on Friday, March 22nd, as your NHL reference books state.

“The Passing Of the Third Floor Back,” said to be on Friday in the weekly listings, was actually broadcast on Thursday according to the daily listings. Perhaps the game was originally intended for Thursday. Or the weekly listings published on Sunday could have been wrong.

Now I’m wondering how many of the other weekly listings I’ve posted are actually inaccurate. But at least we solved the mystery of the Thursday play-off game.

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